Spring Comes

It took two web posts to get these pictures loaded! Anyway, weekends without active chemotherapy are pretty good -- we said this weekend, "We can do this!" Though life is not exactly what we would have ordered if it was a buffet, it is still a wonderful feast.


You can see by the pictures that things are coming together in the cottage. Kurt and I did some work this week on the furnace return air and the electrical job was completed after a consult with our master electrician, Sue Worthington!

So, Kurt said, "It's time to call the building inspector for a final inspection!" (When we started this project almost two years ago, I thought I would never hear those words." The cottage is bright, cheery and colorful. Sabine always lights up when she visits.



Furniture was delivered on Saturday and suddenly the place came to life. A proper celebration for a spring day.


And with the snow melting and mud appearing, I thought of a poem I had written almost 50 years ago. (I guess that's what you do when you approach various landmarks in your life -- like turning 70!)



spring comes
like little skipping girls
down slushy mud streets
wearing starched green dresses
with little white bows
freshness in their laughter
brightness in their talk
little insects
instant-broken out of weathered
cocoon shells
they talk and smile
and even giggle
like little skipping girls
down slushy mud streets




Sabine and I were joking yesterday about my overall lack of energy since this ordeal began. Sometimes I think Sabine has more energy than I do. Sabine suggested that maybe I was getting a little depressed -- not because of her illness, but because I lost my old truck last fall!

So, to celebrate my 70th and her 55th this week, we decided to get a "previously-owned" truck (2001 Chevy Silverado; 4x4? of course!).

And there I am and yes, I DO feel a lot better because every man needs a good truck (and I already have a good wife!) [See the rest of the cottage pictures below...]

Spring Comes, Part Two

As we sit here we are thinking about all the wonderful people that made this cottage come together (at least a year earlier than we had anticipated). Again, thanks so much!


Hey, things are looking good and we are hoping and praying for some good numbers this Wednesday when we go in for our consultation.


Sabine has a nice routine she has developed. When we walk our woods and get to the end of one of our two ridges, Sabine sings the ancient Doxology because she thought she would never be able to walk our trails again and she is so thankful. ("Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God all creatures here below; praise God among ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!")
Here is a shot of our sun room which faces to the south taking in the bright morning sun. Andy and Kathy Marks brought some wicker furniture that they had in their basement (I guess you won't be able to find it at St Peter's rummage sale later on this year!) It matches the cottage motif so well. When our friend and interior decorator, Sue Wenger, saw it she thought it was a "go!" We are really happy with the colors she chose -- and now on to window coverings!

Spring Bound

Sabine is seen modelling her new prayer shawl given to her by St Peter's Church. Sort of reminds me of Joseph's "multi-colored dreamcoat!" At the right of the picture is our ever-present wonder dog, Mocha Latte (she has taken a break from running by and taunting our donkeys, Max and Moritz.

You can see that spring is coming to New Journey Farm. While there are some snow drifts still remaining, most of our 5 and 6 foot drifts have been reduced to just snow piles.

It has been nice to take a couple of weeks off from chemotherapy. And we look forward to some good reports next week from Dr Sheehan.

Thanks to all of you who have sent beautiful cards and gifts to Sabine -- this has kept her spirits high and helped the grieving process we both are experiencing from having to leave our dear friends at St Peter's.

We attended Holy Week and Easter services at a parish in Mazomanie, St John's Lutheran Church, and were warmly enfolded by this vibrant parish and their young pastor, Rob Nelson. I know that making the shift from "pulpit to pew" will be a big one for me and one that I will have to slowly live into after all those years of parish leadership. (I will resist my vision of the old pastor/priest emeritus sitting in the back pew grumbling and dozing from time to time, ugh! We are talking about what kind of role we can and should play exercising that which we believe that has been so important to both of us over the years.)

Easter Weekend

Sabine and I enjoyed having Easter weekend visitors -- granddaughter Taylor and daughter, Sumi, and her husband, Scott from New Jersey.

As you can see, there is a great resemblance between grandmother and granddaughter -- one has a pink hat and the other pink ears!
Taylor is mesmerized by grandpa's telling the Easter story (or was the fact I was making interesting noises; maybe it's the familar ears.
Here is Scott, Sumi and the birthday girl. With Easter falling so early this year, Taylor will never have another Easter Sunday birthday -- the next March 23rd Easter occurs well over a hundred years from now.
Taylor takes her first donkey ride under the watchful eyes of her great-grandmother.

Tomorrow Sabine goes to the lab for her end-of-chemo-cycle blood tests. Then we meet for consultation with Dr Sheehan a week from Wednesday. We are looking for some good test results showing this cancer is coming under control.

Please keep us all in prayer. It's helping!

And as we enter this Easter season, HOPE and PROMISE are our companions.

Easter Sunday

this easter
i will never forget
i sit in darkness
waiting
for the light i know
to be the Christ
i know this darkness
will be overcome
hope and easter are twin sisters

wandering i remember
other easters
from stunning bonnet sundays
to rain and even snow
when i was grateful for my
multi-buttoned acolyte’s cassock
and warmed my hands in paschal light

i browse the astronomical table
keeping my thoughts and feelings
in the empty tomb
looking for the morning light
the table lists the easter dates
1953 i remember that warm day
a new poplin jacket
my mother’s ford convertible
standing on hartford street
knowing not what lies ahead

only one other easter before that
1942 an unremembered age 4

yet i remember my grandmother
telling me of coming easter birthdays
there it is at 77 and also 88 she said
and God-willing, 99
a strange thing these easter tables
to find the sunday after march 21
the full moon on or after the
spring equinox
(it cannot be earlier than march 23
nor later than the 25th of the following month)

those full moons go on and on
and in between
we live and die, put on new jackets

and touch each other’s lives
often casting good friday shadows
but other times we are the Christ-light
that is sure to follow
the full and hopeful moon
after
the spring equinox.


On this Easter Sunday we celebrate the first birthday of our youngest grandchild, Taylor, who comes visiting us with her parents, Sumi and Scott, from their home in New Jersey.

Taylor, may you always be Christ to others; the Christ in whom you were recently baptized and who, on this day, again brings light to a world in darkness.

Holy Saturday

the woods
covered overnight
by a white shroud
lie dormant
among
waiting wandering restless tracks
who can imagine
what is to come?
the seasonal explosion
when
bright birds
bumlebees and
blossoms
suddenly appear
spiritual harbingers
look
right there
under snowy cover
there lies
a patch of lady slippers
as restless as the tracks above
waiting
held by frozen blackness
ready to burst forth
a fragrant offering
as wondrous as
Christ from the tomb

More Snow -- But Some Rest Coming!

So we got up this morning to go into Madison with the following weather report: "Snow Storm Warning, 8-10 inches of new snow, blowing and drifting; could be as much as 13 inches. Don't drive unless you have to!" I think I should get a Humvee to battle the elements -- nevertheless, we headed out and are thinking about hibernating as soon as we get home. After all, it was in the 50s yesterday with a clear sky and plenty of sunshine.

Yesterday we finished up our third round of chemotherapy (our second round of the Velcade + dexamethasone). We get a week off, some intensive blood work at the lab, and then we see our oncologist the following week on Wednesday. Sabine is looking forward to a reduced medical schedule for these two weeks and, we hope, a higher energy level.

Sabine and I and Charlotte went to Maundy Thursdays services at St John's Lutheran Church in Mazomanie. It was a little strange to be sitting in the pew during Holy Week (I think the last time that happened was about 17 years ago!).

While many people are groaning about the weather, I have to admit that I am looking forward to getting out on snowshoes tomorrow morning (it must be the Minnesota boy in me because I have to confess I have loved all this snow this winter!).

Stay tuned and if you need something to do, think about sending a check to Sabine made out to the American Cancer Society for this summer's "Relay for Life." And think about visiting, or God-willing, walking with Sabine at Wisconsin Heights High School (on Hwy. 14 between Mazomanie and Black Earth) in on Friday night, June 27th (see the last blog entry for more info).